Republican Reps Ask FCC to Officially Scrap Fairness Doctrine

[Newsjock]

Source: Broadcasting & Cable

Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Greg Walden (R- Ore.), the chairs of the House Energy & Commerce Committee and Communications Subcommittee, respectively, have asked the FCC to get the fairness doctrine and a couple of their corollaries off the books, pointing to President Obama's directive earlier this year to federal agencies to review outdated regs still on the books.

In a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, the legislators give the FCC until the end of the week (June 3) to confirm that it will remove the doctrine and corollaries from the Code of Federal Regulations.

The issue came up after Republican FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell pointed out in a speech that, although the FCC ruled back in 1987 that the doctrine was unconstitutional and unenforceable, the doctrine remained in the Code of Federal Regulations, which meant essentially it was teed up if a future commission decided to enforce it.

... The chairman has said he has no interest in reinstating the doctrine, and the President has echoed that sentiment. But it has remained a perceived threat to some Republicans, particularly given that some powerful Democrats in Congress, including Senate Communication Subcommittee Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.), have in the past suggested it should be revived as a counter to conservative talk radio, whose rise coincided with the doctrine's demise.

Read more: http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/469013-Republican_Reps_Ask_FCC_to_Officially_Scrap_Fairness_Doctrine.php

[HopeHoops]

1. It is technically dead anyway - evidence: FOX

[Pab Sungenis]

2. It was removed back in 1987.

Much ado about nothing.

[Bonhomme Richard]

3. Just the idea of the word "fair" is outrageous to repugs. n/t

[defendandprotect]

4. We need to bring back the Fairness in Broadcasting Act --

However, we may be reaching the tipping point in the other direction now

where right wingers have made their agenda clear enough to make the public nauseous?

Sadly, however, during the time we were waiting for that to happen a great deal of

damage has been done!! Much of it perhaps unrepairable?

[The Wielding Truth]

5. There are parts to the F.D. that every American needs. One is verified accuracy.

The Fairness Doctrine was a policy of the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), introduced in 1949, that required the holders of broadcast licenses to both present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that was, in the Commission's view, honest, equitable and balanced. The 1949 Commission Report served as the foundation for the Fairness Doctrine since it had previously established two more forms of regulation onto broadcasters. These two duties were to provide adequate coverage to public issues and that coverage must be fair in reflecting opposing views.<1> The Fairness Doctrine should not be confused with the Equal Time rule.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairness_Doctrine